Photo Gallery: Meet our Kilkenny Rose of Tralee hopefuls

On Saturday evening 22nd April Kilkenny Roses will gather at the Ormonde Hotel in Kilkenny for a night full of entertainment, glamour and above all great fun as we find out who will represent Kilkenny at the Dome in Tralee 2017. Roses will appear on stage to speak with MC Mr. Brendan Hennessy and get an opportunity to do a party piece of their choice if they so wish. All applicants will be interviewed by a judging panel prior to Rose Selection night.

The applicants have been meeting for the past number of weeks and attended lots of events from bowling at Kbowl, Cocktails at Billy Byrnes, Greyhound Racing with the Waterford Roses, participating in the Kilkenny St. Patricks Day Parade and Bingo in Billy Nolans Pub in Coon. Kilkenny Roses also had the pleasure of hosting current International Rose Of Tralee, Maggie McEldowney where they experienced the Medieval Tour under the guidance of Mayor Patrick O Neill. Colin Ahearn, GM of the Ormonde Hotel very kindly accommodated Maggie on her stay, and Maggie went on them to experience the traditional Movie Night in Billy Byrnes with the Kilkenny Roses. There was a surprise guest on the night, Colin Fennelly who presented Maggie with a signed Kilkenny Hurl and sliotar.

One of our final group outings, our Main sponsor MacDonagh Junction kindly arranged for all the Roses and Rose buds to have an afternoon of Arts and Crafts in Art It and experience the sightseeing tour of Kilkenny City sponsored by Jimmy of The Castle Express tour train. Upon return Starbucks kindly spoiled us with some tasty nibbles and treats. The MC on the night will be KCLR’s sports presenter Brendan Hennessy, who has a long affiliation with the Kilkenny Rose. Brendan is very experienced in interviewing the Roses and is looking forward to meeting them all on the night.

Our Musical Director on the night will be Dale Hennessy. There will be prizes for ‘Best dressed Lady’, Best Dressed Man and ‘Best Banner’, as well as a raffle, and lots of nice prizes to be won. The roses have the pleasure of being paired with a ‘Rose Bud’ on the night, who are young local girls aged between 4-10.

The girl who is chosen as the 2017 Kilkenny Rose will walk away with an array of prizes from a selection of jewellery from newly announced lead sponsor of the Rose of Tralee International Festival Tipperary Crystal, a fantastic dress sponsored by Serendipity and of course the coveted Kilkenny sash to go on to represent Kilkenny in the Dome in Tralee.

As like last year, all Roses from all over the world will descend in Tralee and experience the full extent of what the Rose of Tralee Festival is all about. Steve Cronly , of the International Rose of Tralee Festival, will assist the girls through their rehearsals, individual judging, group judging followed by stage Interviews and entertainment.

Lyn and Steve would like to take this opportunity to thank all 25 local sponsors and of course our Main Sponsor MacDonagh Junction and host sponsor The Ormonde Hotel. Of course, none of this would be possible without the ongoing support of the Kilkenny People Newspaper and KCLR.

We would invite any of you out there attending the Kilkenny Rose to come along early as tickets are almost sold out and the night in question promises to be one to remember.

Tickets are €20 and will be available on the evening of Saturday 22nd April 2017

Doors open at 6.15pm

Show starts at 7.00pm sharp